Confessions of a Love Struck Drummer Boy
by Hanna Muffin
Summary: It's just another day for Sonic Underground until they rescue Zora, and everything changes. Manic/OC. Rated T for my added violence and language. Sonic Underground/Sonic X/Sonic the Hedgehog(show)combined. Every odd numbered chapter is Zora's POV, every even chapter is Manic.
1. Zora's Plan

**_SNVK: Hey again! I just wanted to say again that every odd chapter (1, 3, 5, etc) is Zora's POV and every even chapter (2, 4, 6, etc) is Manic's POV. That being said, enjoy! _****_DISCLAIMER: I own none of the Sonic characters, and give full rights to those who do! I only own Zora and her siblings!_**

_Run, run, and run. That's all we can ever do anymore. Ever since Eggman destroyed our home and tore our family apart…_

I'm Zora, Zora the Cat. I'm the youngest of six children. Our mother and father were "robotized" when I was young, at least, that's what my oldest brother Scourge told us. He became our guardian. It hasn't been long since we've been on our own, but it's been hard. Stealing to survive is not an admirable lifestyle. But you always have to do what you can to survive.

"Zora, c'mon, get your ass out here and take a bath!" Scourge yelled, slapping a bar of soap into each of my brothers' hands. Did I forget to mention I'm the only girl? I stuck my tongue out at him.

"No! No bath!" I yelled, shaking my head. Scourge sighed loudly and dragged me out from under the kitchen table. "No! Water's wet!" I tried my best to escape from his grasp, but it was firm and tight. He's got superhuman strength; no one is as strong as Big Brother.

"It's supposed to be wet, stupid mutant," my brother, Kylok, said, rolling his big green eyes. I stuck my tongue out at him. I hated it when he called me something like that. I was different from my brothers. We were all cats, but only I had angelic wings on my back, making me vulnerable to teasing from family and friends alike. Because of that, I had a very low-esteem. I never liked anyone looking at them.

"Shut up, Kylok!" Scourge smacked his head, knowing I was self-conscious about my wings, and smiled at me. I awkwardly smiled back.

My brothers were quiet as they took turns getting washed by Scourge and were pushed from the waterhole and the next brother was shoved forward. Excluding Kylok, three more brothers were before me. I smirked wickedly and snuck out of the water. _No bath for me! _I thought happily, tiptoeing from the hideout. Mobius was dark and vicious since Robotnik took control. Most kids were orphaned, resorting to stealing to survive. Yeah, we weren't the only ones, so we had competition when it came to finding food

"I've got to be the sneakiest cat alive!" I exclaimed to myself, making my way to the market. Many half-robotized animals roamed the marketplace. It saddened me, but what could I do? Sure, I had control over fire and lightning, and I had my wings which let me glide, but what could that do? What could that do…? Then I got it. A master plan had formed in my mind. I would stop Eggman myself! Pretty wicked, huh?

I glided off to the inner city, using a clocking device my brother, Tekno invented to get pasted the Swat Bots. He was pretty amazing when it came to technology, I admired him for that. Once inside Robotnik's lair, I paused. I didn't exactly think this through…

_What's a kitten to do in here?_ I thought, starting to look around. The cloaking device around my wrist started beeping. The effects didn't last long, which was one of the only disadvantages of Tekno's invention. I sighed and pressed a button to silence it. I waited too long. Someone had to of heard it because a whole ton of alarms went off. I was trapped.

"INTRUDER. INTRUDER." I heard the Swat Bots' calls, making me run down the hall I was in. I ran all the way to the dead end. I swallowed hard and turned. Surrounded.

"YOU ARE TRESSPASSING IN DR. ROBOTNIK'S LAB!" A Swat Bot said, pointing a robotic finger at me. I shook my head.

"N-no! I'm a servant!" I said, bowing. I knew they wouldn't believe me, so I ran as fast as I could under their legs, sending fire and lightning from my fingertips at them, my eyes pressed shut.

"Damn, kid!" Someone said, making me open my eyes, and then suddenly, I was in someone's arms. A blue hedgehog's arms, to be precise, a blue hedgehog with emerald eyes. "That's pretty cool!" I blushed. _This has to be Mr. Sonic!_ I thought excitedly.

"You're Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog, aren't you?" I asked breathlessly. The hedgehog nodded and smiled seductively. I blushed more. I heard he was outgoing, but no one ever said he was a flirt!

"Shut your trap, Sonic, and just get her out of her!" said a girl's voice. I turned my head to look at her. She was a pink hedgehog, with an admirable fashion sense, and great pink hair. She was shooting at the Swat Bots with a keyboard. Pretty trippy if you ask me…

"Ugh, get off my ass, Sonia!" Sonic groaned and started running. Super freakin' fast. That's what he was known for, running tremendously fast. And damn, was the feeling of moving at supersonic speed wonderful! I smiled big as he ran, stopping only after a couple seconds. We were out of the mechanical building and back in the market. Sonic set me down, and pointed to the van that sat in front of us. "Get inside that van, you'll be safe." And before I could say thank you, he was gone. I blinked and obeyed his orders, shyly opening the door.

"Sonic, Sonia! You're back!" a voice said and a chair turned to face the door. In it, sat a green hedgehog with scraggily spikes and a red vest. He twirled drumsticks in his hands. "Oh, you must be the one they were in such a hurry to rescue." He rolled his eyes and turned the chair back around, putting his hands on the wheel. I frowned. He wasn't very nice. Sure, I didn't need any help, but Mr. Sonic and Ms. Sonia were kind enough to come "assist" me, if you will.

"Well, excuse me!" I huffed, putting my hands on my hips, "I didn't need any help, anyways! I was doing just fine!" The hedgehog laughed, not turning around.

"Yeah, just fine if you wanted to robotized!" Alright, now he was just mocking me. He had no idea how strong I was. How dare he speak as if he did! He made me mad, fueling the fire in my stomach. See, I didn't look it, but I get pissed off easily, and something like that pulls the trigger on my hostility.

"Listen you pompous ass!" I yelled, stomping up to his chair, "I've got a good mind to-"

"Kid, I'd sit down if I were you." He interrupted, and slammed his foot on the gas pedal. I flew back, hitting the backdoors. The blow knocked the wind out of me, and I collapsed to the floor of the van, moving around every time we swerved.

"P-please…stop!" I wheezed, crawling my way over to a chair and climbing into it. Buckling myself in, I stared at the back of the driver's chair. He didn't stop.

"I told you to sit down." He sighed, speeding up. I coughed. I hit the doors pretty damn hard. I could have sworn I felt my organs move. _I guess I'm seeing Cypher after this_, I thought hotly. He was one of my brothers, our family doctor. Apparently he learned everything he knows from Father, says Scourge.

"Yeah, but you could have said something sooner!" I hissed, fixing my now messed-up ebony hair. I didn't like him, but at the same time, I think I did... He gave me a weird feeling in my tummy, like it was full of butterflies… Ugh, what am I saying? He was a jerk, a total jerk! What the hell had I done to him to make him this vicious towards me? I'd never even seen him before in my life, much less met him! Behind the chair, I just knew he rolled his eyes.

"Hey man, if you're gonna be pissy at me, I can just let ya out now!" he said, stopping the van and opening the door. He turned around in his chair and motioned me to leave. Outside, there was nothing but jungle. "Well, go on!" I didn't think he was serious! I shook my head at him and looked down. He nodded and closed the door. "Now, hold on, this might get bumpy." He turned back around and began driving again.

"Okay," I nodded, even though he couldn't see it. I sat quietly as he continued his driving, though I desperately wanted to say something. Awkward silences always bugged me, so I had to do something about them, even though I didn't like talking. As I opened my mouth to speak, the hedgehog cursed loudly, moving the wheel all over. We spun, out of control, like someone slipping on a banana peel.

"Hold on tight, kid!" he yelled, letting go of the wheel and unbuckling himself. He jumped back, and stood over me, like a protective shield. I blushed. What the heck was he doing?

"W-what are-"

"Shut up! Just hold on! We're gonna go over a cliff!" He tightened my seatbelt as the van lost control.

"A cliff?" I echoed, but he didn't respond. We were both quiet as we felt the van go over the cliff, falling down, down, down, down…


	2. The Strange Cat Girl

What the hell possessed me to do it? I haven't a clue. But I did. I got some kind of feeling in my chest that made me jump up and defend her. I didn't like her, though. So don't be thinking of anything like that. I didn't like her at all. The way she looked, the way she talked, nothing. I just didn't like her.

"Are we going to die, sir?" I heard her whisper. It was so puny and pathetic. I thought my heart would sink into my feet. I didn't like the sound of it any more than I liked her. Shaking my head, I reluctantly picked her up in my arms. I knew she wasn't going to move, and I didn't really want to have to deal with murder being on my conscience.

"No. No, we won't. Hang on, kid." I told her, jumping up to the back door. I opened it with speed rivaling my brother's, and jumped onto the cliff. "Just hang on, this is gonna be a while." She wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist as I climbed up the cliff. Below us, the Sonic Underground van hit the ground beneath us, exploding into a huge mushroom cloud. It was quite pretty, actually.

"Are we dead, sir…?" that pathetic little voice squeaked from my chest. I laughed. It was quite cute, wait… cute? Did I just say it was cute? Ugh, what's wrong with me?

"N-no, we're alive," I said, stroking her long black hair. I jerked my hand away quickly when I realized what I was doing. _What the hell's wrong with you, Manic? Tripping over yourself because of some damned cat girl! Stop it! _After smacking myself in the head, I continued climbing up the cliff, lying on my back once I made it. She didn't move, not at all. She just stayed there; her grip was tight, though it wasn't tight enough to choke me, thank God. I had to pry her off. I tapped her curled up body.

"Hey, you can get up now…" I whispered. When she didn't, I uncurled her. The damn kid was sleeping! "Oh, this is bogus, man…" I sighed, already aggravated. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave her there. Bu that meant I'd have to take her with me, that would be even more bogus…

_"Manic, come in!"_ the radio on my wrist made me jump. _"Manic! Are you okay?"_ Definitely Sonia's voice. I pressed a button and spoke into it.

"Yeah, Sonia. Though, we might need a new van."

_"What the hell do you mean a new van? Did you destroy our van, Manic? What the hell happened?" _ When Sonia gets mad, she never shuts her ass up. I guess Sonic took the radio from her.

_"What happened to the van, bro?"_ He asked over Sonia's shrieking.

"Let's just say we need a new one, okay? A new one and fast." I laughed emotionlessly. I really hoped I wouldn't get yelled at, especially by Sonia. I clicked another button and turned off the communicator. Besides, the van wouldn't be a damn pile of nothing if it wasn't for the damn…

"Wow! Look, sir!" A voice exclaimed and I turned to the cliff. There stood that little cat girl. "Look! Is that the van, sir?" She asked, looking at me and pointing below her. I groaned_. She's not supposed to be happy about it! That's our fastest way of transportation without Sonic!_

"So, you're awake now, huh?" I sighed and nodded, "Yeah, kid, that's the van. Now how the hell are we going to get back to Sonic and Sonia?" I groaned again, twirling my drumsticks. She stared at me with awestruck eyes. I gazed back, still twirling my drumsticks.

"What is it?" I asked. She still stared for a little bit before answering my question.

"That's really cool, sir!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down. She was slightly too close to the edge. I screamed at her as she fell over, and I ran to her. I looked down and she flew up, landing right behind me. A cat with wings… a cat with the wings of an angel. Now it was my turn to stare awestruck. She turned around to face me and blinked, hiding her wings behind her back with a pair of uncomfortable hands.

"I would like it very much if you wouldn't stare at them, sir…" She said defensively, looking down at her feet. I walked over to her.

"I have a name, ya know…" I sighed, jabbing her in the forehead to make her look up at me. When she did, I looked over her face. Her eyes were a gorgeous brown… wait, what? Damn it, I was doing it again! I turned my head away from her, and I could feel my cheeks get hot as she tapped my chest. _What the hell is wrong with you, Manic? Get your act together and stop being stupid!_

"Well are you gonna tell me, or do I have to guess, sir?" She stuck her tongue out at me, making my cheeks get even hotter.

"I-It's Manic…" I choked out, growling at myself under my breath. Damn, this was confusing! Why was I blushing? Why was I stuttering? It made no sense! I didn't like her! So why was I getting flustered around her?

"Hi Mr. Manic, sir!" she stuck out her hand, as if she was meeting me for the first time. I shook it gingerly, "I'm Zora the Cat, but just call me Zora, please, sir. It's much faster and easier to say." I nodded. It was a weird name, I couldn't lie. But somehow, it fit her. She was pretty damn weird herself, with those wings and her bright pink and black outfit… And that unique color of fur, that soft honey color…

"Where are we, Mr. Manic, sir?" Zora asked, making me take my focus off her. I looked around. We were still in the jungle, or at least, outside of the jungle. I cleared my throat. I needed to sound superior now, not like some disorderly schoolboy.

"No clue, but we should start walking." I pointed down the road, still keeping my eyes on her, "The van is totaled, so we have to walk back to our hideout. But the van would probably be fine if someone hadn't tried to play hero and almost get herself robotized!" Her jaw dropped and I had to use all of my strength not to laugh at her. It was true, though. If she hadn't been in Eggman's place, Sonic wouldn't have had to rescue her ass and give her to me. So, this was all her fault. _Thinking of that, this could be Sonic's fault, too. For dumping her on me…_

"How dare you pin this on me!" She growled, stomping her little foot. Her eyes seemed to have changed colors, from brown to red. A deep bone-chilling red. "I was only trying to stop this damned planet from falling even further into the darkness, which is more than I can say for you!" Without any warning, she slapped me, REALLY hard, then, with an angry growl, trudged off.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" I called after her, rubbing my stinging cheek, and she held up a finger. An extremely impolite finger. I cursed at her as she disappeared into the jungle. Good. I was getting sick of her anyways. She probably didn't know the way around the jungle. Well, what did I care? She said she could take care of herself. She didn't need me to protect her, and I didn't want to.

_"Manic! It's Sonic! Come in quick! It's an emergency!" _ Sonic's voice sounded fearful, something my brother NEVER was. Cursing under my breath, I pressed a button on the radio and spoke into it again.

"What the hell's the problem now, Sonic?" I asked composedly, really hoping something bad wasn't going on.

_"It's Sonia! She's gotten captured again!"_

"Then go get her. Don't ya remember? You have supersonic speed, stupid. I told you: the van's totaled. I have to walk." There was a long silence then my brother spoke again.

_"But you don't understand! Eggman wants to trade! That cat girl for Sonia!"_

"Shit, Sonic! She just stomped off into the jungle!" I stomped my foot. What the hell was so important about her that Eggman would want to trade her for Sonia?

_"That means you don't have her? Fuck, Manic! Where the hell are you? I'll meet you there!" _I told him my location and turned off the radio. Now this was something. Why would Eggman want her? What was so damn special about her? Minutes later, Sonic sped down the road and stopped in front of me. I pointed to the jungle.

"She went in there. You can search it faster so go ahead. I'll be waiting here." I slapped my brother on the back, "Good luck, bro." Sonic nodded and took off. I took a seat on the ground and waited, still stuck on why Zora was so important to Eggman. She didn't seem like the type of kid to spark Eggman's interest. Unless there was more to her than meets the eye…


	3. Catnapped

"Who the hell does he think he is?" I shouted to the vines and trees of the forest. Yeah, I was kind of pissed, if you couldn't tell. I had an extremely short fuse; everyone who knew me knew that, and if you didn't know me, you learned that really quickly. I continued to stomp through the jungle, raising my hands in gestures as if talking to someone. Though, in my mind, I was. Okay, I'll try to explain this well. When I get angry, I get an image of the person I'm pissed off at in my head, and we argue. Does that make sense? Well, it does to me. I've gotten weird looks for it, which only makes me even more pissed off because I HATE it when people stare. It's rude and stupid and people need to learn that.

"Next time I come across that green asshole, I'll-" I didn't get to finish my sentence, because in front of me was a Swat Bot, and not any one I'd even seen. This one was gold and silver instead of the usual blue and red, and had a HUGE gun for its left arm, one that could probably kill me if it used right. That's a scary thought, now isn't it?

"YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR BREAKING A LAW SET BY DR. ROBOTNIK!" It said, holding the gun at me. I raised my eyebrows in suspicion and I knew I had a "what-the-fuck?" look on my face because my voice was full of the sass of a seventeen year old girl – CAT girl, excuse me.

"And what law is that exactly, _sir_?" I asked, putting a hand on my hip. If I wasn't that pissed before, I most certainly was now. I was minding my own damn business and out of nowhere, a robot comes and says that I've broken a law!

"Oh, you should know that!" A voice said, and two creatures stepped out from behind the Swat Bot. One was a large orange wolf, wearing only green pants and specs on his nose. His hair was yellow, as was the fur on his tail. He was huge, like, built huge, with muscles. The other was a grey wolf, with a blue Mohawk and a red jumpsuit. He was smaller than the other, but he was as tall – they were both pretty damn tall! The blue cape on his back ruffled in the wind that just so happened to blow at the moment he stepped out from behind the robot. Weird, huh? I never seen them before, but boy were they a strange pair!

"Uh, and who are you, exactly?" I asked them, putting my other hand on my hip. The grey one smiled.

"Dr. Eggman's bounty hunters, of course. Do you not recognize us?" He struck a pose, a rather _stupid_ pose. It took all my strength to keep from laughing. The orange one looked shyly at me, like a schoolboy with a crush.

"Sleet, w-who is she?" he asked, with a strange Australian accent. The grey one – supposedly called Sleet – slapped his orange partner in the head.

"Dingo, you idiot! She's the one Dr. Eggman told us to find and take back to him!" My eyes widened when I heard that. So I hadn't broken a law? Or had I? The two got into an argument, later bringing the Swat Bot into it. With the speed rivaling a certain blue hedgehog, I tiptoed away and was almost put of their sight until I stepped on a twig and it snapped – yes, clichéd, I know, but don't you dare judge. We were in a jungle after all, there's bound to be twigs on the ground. Sleet gasped and pointed at me, ordering the Swat Bot after me. I sent fire and lightning from my fingertips and I laughed spitefully at them. Like they could ever catch me! Sure, I wasn't the fastest thing on Mobius – that was Sonic – but I was pretty damn fast for something of my standards. And besides that, I could fly – or at least glide. That made getting away a lot easier… or so I thought. The two bounty hunters were smarter than I expected them to be. I turned to see where they were behind me, not noticing a button on the ground. My foot pressed it.

"Shit!" I shrieked as a metallic net engulfed me and lifted me off the ground. _Oh great Zora, you're like a damsel in distress now_, I thought irritably, crossing my arms on my chest and swinging around in the netting. I wasn't one to get caught easily, but this made me look like some kind of amateur. That pissed me off – I get pissed off a lot, don't I?

"Ha ha, we caught you!" Sleet exclaimed, pointing another bony finger at me. I groaned, irritated.

"No shit, Sherlock…" I grumbled, rolling my eyes at the two wolves and strange colored Swat Bot. "Anything else you'd like to say, Mr. Points-Out-the-Obvious?" Dingo thought my words were funny, but Sleet… Not so much. Dingo got a slap to the face for laughing at it, which saddened me, to be honest. I didn't know them, but Dingo seemed to get hit a lot, and something inside me felt sorry for him that he had such a cruel partner.

"Shut your mouth!" Sleet snapped and I stuck my tongue out at him. "Swat Bot, get the net down so we can take her back to the Doctor." Without a robotic reply, the Swat Bot obeyed, untying the top of the net from the tree, but being careful not to let me escape. I had to admit, this Swat Bot was smarter than the ones I had seen. Most were really stupid and couldn't do such a simple task, though I wasn't making it simple for it. I struggled and bit the netting and clawed at Sleet and Dingo – when I'm angry, I never used my powers. I don't know why, I just used them when I got scared, which wasn't often, mind you. As if I hadn't done a thing, the robot swung the net and I hit its back, hard.

"This isn't right!" I snarled, still thrashing about, soon getting a punch in my side from Sleet. I growled at him, and then continued, "Let me go, damn it! I'm an innocent little kitty cat! I didn't do anything! This is wrong! Let me go, now! "

"Stop that!" Sleet said, hitting my side again. I winced and Dingo looked at me sympathetically. I rolled my eyes and made a sound of exasperation. This was annoying, really annoying. I bounced against the robots back all the way back to Eggman's lair. That was quite a ways, so I was kind of sore. Once in the "evil genius'" room – lair, place, whatever – I was thrown out of the net and down onto the hard floor, at the feet of the round man.

"Ah, Zora, how nice of you to… drop in." The man smiled. Standing up, I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips.

"That's overly used, ya know," I huffed, "Clichéd, and very stupid. I thought someone of your standing would be smarter."

"Silence!" Eggman yelled. I shut up at his command, but I giggled under my breath. I'd seen this so many times before in movies and read about it in books. It always amused me. I pointed at the fat man, a finger that could shoot fire and or lightning at him. But just as I was about to, Eggman barked an order, and Sleet slapped some kind of gloves onto my hands. They looked like normal gloves, but as soon as they touched my skin, they stuck there, like super glue.

"Ugh! What the hell?" I shrieked, my girly side taking over, "What's on this?"

"Just a little something to keep you from using those troublesome powers of yours," the rotund man snickered, "Now, on to the plan…"

"I'm going to be used as bait, aren't I?" I asked cutely and a symphony of gasps filled the room. "Oh yeah, right on the money, ain't I?" Well, everyone but Eggman gasped. He stared at me, curiosity in his eyes. Everyone – and everything in the robot's case – looked at Eggman, waiting for his reply.

"To some extent, yes, but I have a much greater need for you than that." I blinked at him. What the hell did he mean? My eyes widened at him.

"I don't know what the hell you mean, man, but keep your filthy hands off me. 'Kay?" I snarled, sitting down on the ground again. Eggman scoffed in disgust.

"The Great Robotnik is a gentleman! How dare you suggest that I am that vulgar!" I rolled my eyes and giggled as he ordered a robot to take me to one of the many _unused – _keyword here – cells in his dungeon. It grabbed my arm, but I didn't bother to fight it. I'd find a way out, I knew I would. As it hauled me to the door, I stuck my tongue out at the bounty hunters and Eggman.

The cell I was thrown in was better than the rest, I'll tell you that much. My cell was clean and actually had a bed when most of them didn't. Sure, there were rats running around, but hey, it's a dungeon. Those are expected. What wasn't expected was another prisoner. He wasn't anyone I'd ever seen before, though. His body was covered in a black cape-like thing, but with a hood over his head, and blue fur… He was a cat, too, by the way. He was silent as the Swat Bot stomped off. He spoke in a gruff voice once the robot was out of sight.

"What you in here for?" He asked and I shook my head.

"The hell if I know! They just brought me here! Mr. Egghead said I'd be used as bait. Well, maybe," I explained, sitting down on the hard bed and wrinkling my nose. The blankets smelled horrible! Like rotten cheese and eggs and… death. I turned to the stranger. "What are you in here for, sir, if I may ask?"

"I'm a Freedom Fighter. The rest should be self explanatory," I nodded. Eggman didn't like the Freedom Fighters because they were fighting to get rid of him. They were doing a very good job if you ask me, though the rest of my family – and the rest of the Mobians – thought they were doing an amazing job. Like I said, I totally disagree. I looked at him. He was ruffled up, his fur, I mean. Bandages around his chest and left leg. Had he been shot?

"I'm Zora," I found myself saying and the stranger nodded, "What's your name?"

"A,"

"Is A short for something?"

"Ax, or Axel, I guess," He said as he took the hood off his head. He stared at me with unusual purple eyes. They were gorgeous! I blinked at him then nodded.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Axel, sir!" I exclaimed, jumping up and looking around. _Now to find a way out of here,_ I thought, scratching my head, _and maybe I can bust him out, too…_

"You won't get very far," Axel sighed, as if he read my mind. I turned to him. "If I could have, I would have busted out long ago." How long had he been in there, exactly? I turned my head to the side like a confused puppy dog, and then shook it and kept looking. He probably hadn't even tried! Well, I was going to. I was going to find a way out if it killed me.

There weren't any windows in the dungeon, so I couldn't bust through them. Each cell had bars surrounding three sides – excluding the wall side – but they were so close together. You couldn't just squeeze through them, no matter how skinny you were. My hands were still covered with the gloves, so I couldn't use my fire and lightning. I couldn't fly out either.

_So we're stuck here? Stuck here until help arrives? If it ever does…_


	4. Negotiations

It'd been over an hour since Sonic had left, and I was starting to get worried. She couldn't have gotten far; especially since he runs faster than any damn being on the planet. I stood and began tapping my foot, a habit I had recently picked up from my brother. I decided I was going to look for him, but as soon as I made my way for the trees, a hand landed on my shoulder, pressing down hard. Instinct made me grab the hand and flip it around, and I turned to the hand's owner.

"Ow! I'm supposed to hurt YOU, hedgehog!" Sleet screeched, and I twisted his arm more, a scowl lining my face as I scoped around us. If Sleet was here, that meant Dingo was too. I turned my head, ignoring Sleet's cries of pain, but before I could turn completely, I got a punch to the face. Found him. The blow made me release my grip on Sleet, and I bounced to the side to evade another swing. Sleet cradled his wrist as he nodded an approving nod to his associate and pulled out a remote.

"Not the remote again, Sleet!" Dingo moaned, getting a konk on the head from his superior.

"Dingo, you idiot, shut up!" Sleet hissed, pushing the button and Dingo transformed into a monster truck. I gulped. Getting run over by that would make me flatter than a pancake! As I turned to make a major run for it, I radioed in to Sonic, who, after only seconds of receiving my distress call, made it to me and scooped me up.

"Thanks, bro," I sighed, looking back at the monster truck Dingo, "Yo, bro, you may need to go faster!" Sonic only laughed, pretending to wipe a fake tear from his eye.

"Oh, that's funny," he gasped through breaths, "Dingo's a slowpoke! Who should I need to-" He turned to see how far Dingo was behind us, though the proper word should have been how _close. _He gasped and started to speed up. Dingo didn't seem to be enjoying the new shape he had been made to shift into, but Sleet, who was inside "driving" him, was laughing his ass off. I pointed into the forest, tapping Sonic's shoulder.

"Go in there, bro! Dingo is too big! He couldn't squeeze through the trees!" Sonic nodded, and with a skidding turn, started for the trees.

"Oh no you don't!" Sleet shrieked, steering the Dingo Mobile after us, though I heard an ear shattering screech from the tires as Sleet slammed the brakes. "Damn it, we can't go after them with you like this!" Sleet's voice sounded behind us as we disappeared into the forest.

"What the hell was that about?!" Sonic sighed once we made it to a safe place. His foot tapped impatiently, as if I had the answer he was looking for. I shrugged at him, though I was quite curious myself. I mean, did they expect us to have the catgirl with us? He did want a trade after all. But we didn't have her. I scouted the area; there was no way we were going to have her just randomly show up where we were!

"We need to find the catgirl, Sonic," I concluded, whipping out one of my drumsticks and pointing it towards the overabundance of trees. "Just it'll be harder than trying to get her to bathe." Sonic raised an eyebrow at me, his foot ceasing its tapping.

"You were with her long enough to try and take a bath with her? Slow it down, bro, buy her dinner first!" I growled an insult, frowning through a blushing face.

"No you idiot, cats tend to hate water, and stop stealing my humor!" Sonic mocked my earlier shrug, but before I could reply with a knock on his head, his communicator beeped, and Sonia's voice projected out of it.

"S-Sonic, Manic, are you there...?" Her voice sounded so puny and pathetic; she was terrified, something not like our sis at all.

"Sonia!" We shouted at the same time, both in relief and fear.

"Are you okay?" I inquired, but the reply was not from who I preferred it to be from.

"She will be fine, hedgehogs, as long as you surrender to me," Buttnik's voice was dark; he knew we wouldn't do anything so he'd hurt her.

"We'll come with the catgirl to talk negotiations," the words just slid out of my mouth and I slammed a hand over it, equally surprised with myself as Sonic seemed. He gaped at me, but before he could ask why I said that, another familiar voice sounded from the communicator.

"You'd be that quick to trade me for another?!" That was the catgirl, Zora. My eyes widened in surprise. He wanted to trade Sonia for Zora, but he already had both of them!

"Shut your mouth!" Eggman's voice thundered and we heard a smacking noise, and shortly after followed Zora's silence and Sonia's gasp of fear. "Now, hedgehogs, the proposition I have is simple. You surrender yourselves and the Freedom Fighters to me, and you'll get your sister back!" Of course we couldn't do it! We couldn't sell out our friends for our sister, even if we were the inseparable trio. We knew she knew that, too.

"Guys, you can't!" As if on cue, Sonia's voice sounded again, "Think about Sally and Tails, Sonic! And Rotor and Bunnie and Antoine! We can't do that to them!" I clenched my fist, trying to keep calm as we heard Buttnik slap our sister too. Sonic was getting furious; his foot tapped faster than ever. This was a problem, indeed. What the hell were we going to do?!

"Don't worry, guys," Zora's voice came on once again and I felt a rush of happiness run through my blood. Happiness? I mean, I guess I was happy she was okay, that Eggman didn't hurt her too bad… Shut up. "I'll make sure nothing happens to your sister; you have my word! But I better get some chili dogs as a reward!" That put a smile on me and Sonic's face; humor was always needed in such a tense situation. Eggman ordered something to a Swatbot in the room and we heard shouts from the two girls which became fainter then they were gone.

"You have three hours to surrender yourselves up, or your sister will cease to exist!" With that, Buttnik signed off and we were left in the silence of our thoughts. What were we going to do? Either way seemed like a losing situation, and what about Zora? He didn't make any negotiation with her… What was he planning?

"Manic, we gotta go tell the others! In person, not just over radio," Sonic concluded and I nodded. Maybe Princess Sally could help us come up with a plan. My brother grabbed my hand and sped off towards our Freedom Fighter hideout, with two hours and fifty minutes left to come up with a plan…

* * *

><p>AN: I'm sorry for the long wait and I'm sorry for a short chapter. /.\ I have an idea for a much longer one for the next chapter, and I'll begin writing that ASAP. Thank you for reading! I hope you're enjoying the story, and if you're not, tell me why in a review! Thank you for your support! :D


End file.
